DNC: Waiting for the main event

Obama to tout clean coal, nuclear, and renewables in his big speech 5

Mile High Stadium

David and I are in Invesco Field, among tens of thousands of delegates, reporters, and Denver residents awaiting Barack Obama's acceptance speech tonight. We're glad to be inside -- outside the line snakes more than a mile out from the stadium. They're expecting more than 75,000 attendees tonight, and the security line is a giant mess, according to folks we know still waiting outside.

So far we've seen a whole list of party higher-ups, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean. Jennifer Hudson sang the national anthem. Wil.i.am, Sheryl Crow, and Stevie Wonder are also slated to perform.

It also happens to be the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, and his daughter, Rev. Bernice King, and son, Martin Luther III, just addressed the crowd. People in the stands seem absolutely giddy in anticipation, waving flags and pounding their feet on the bleachers.

We got an advance copy of the speech, and I'll post key excerpts shortly. But heads up -- watch for the shout-outs to "clean coal," natural gas, and nuclear power. They come before he mentions wind and solar. Anyway, there will be several minutes devoted to energy issues in his big speech. We'll have more shortly.

Before that, we'll have some coverage of Al Gore's speech. And after Obama, Rev. Joel Hunter, pastor of the Northland Church in central Florida and a leader of the evangelical environmental movement, will give the benediction.

Kate Sheppard is Grist’s political reporter.

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  1. Biodiversivist's avatar

    Biodiversivist Posted 11:28 am
    28 Aug 2008

    Forgot to mention corn ethanol ...There's a shout out for that also, right? Give the security guys all the cooperation you can muster. I don't want to see another election stolen by the ignorant majority.



    In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world
  2. spaceshaper's avatar

    spaceshaper Posted 1:16 pm
    28 Aug 2008

    Not corn ethanolObama's speech plugs "the next generation" of bio-fuels

    The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.
  3. amazingdrx's avatar

    amazingdrx Posted 2:12 pm
    28 Aug 2008

    Next generationMake it biogas from waste please, not cellulosic ethanol.  If we win this election, the environmental battle will just be starting.
    We better get behind a conpromise now, herd these environmentalists behind Al Gore and Lester Brown and Amory Lovins and Joe Romm and others to get up front and get the right technologies funded.
    Make a compromise that funds experimental clean coal, sellulosic ethanol, and modular mass produced nuclear power.  No roll out of old style nukes, ethanol, or coal, only the newer versions and only after they are tested and proven.
    But ask for immediate subsidies for the things that really work right now, wind, solar, wave, ocean/river current, smart grids, plugin hybrids, ground source heating/cooling, electric mass transit, and biogas from waste/organic agriculture.  The real GHG free technologies to revive our economy.

    http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin
  4. racc Posted 5:36 am
    29 Aug 2008

    Public Transit and CyclingFortunately Obama has real solutions like public transit, cycling and smart growth in his platform. Biden is a big fan of rail. They probably tout the supply side "solutions" in the speech because that is was resonates to the masses.
  5. Gary Braasch Photography Posted 11:37 am
    31 Aug 2008

    Clean Coal is an OxymoronSenator Obama, can not have it both ways.  If he fully funds and builds the solar and wind energy network that he talked about in his acceptance speech, we will not need "harnessed" nuclear power, nor "clean" or any kind of coal.  More than enough electric energy is streaming daily from the sun, powering the wind and solar cells. We cannot harness nuclear waste for thousands of years, and coal is a dirty killer from the moment a mine is begun.  Neither are effective, rapid and safe solutions to global warming.  This would condemn thousands to early deaths and our economy to distortion if we continue to pour our precious tax funds and subsidies into nuclear and coal, rather than turning that money toward the future, toward the sun.

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